What do u think? Should I? (PART 2)

Sorry to hear that.

Yes, that's the frustration of ebay ... I find if you REALLY want a particular coin you have to bid over the list price
(dont do that too often tho as overpaying on the buy is how you end up losing $)

However if it's for a one-of-a-kind coin you covet and dont plan on selling (anytime soon),
bidding over is the only way to ensure your win.

Here is the PCGS guide for prices of coins that they grade (only)
This is the free guide which is missing a lot of grades ...

You have to pay to get access to the PCGS guide for all the grades
However this free shortlist is a good general guide.

Note that this list is ONLY for PCGS graded and encapsulated coins.

http://www.pcgs.com/PRICES/PriceGuideDetail.aspx?MS=1&PR=1&SP=1&c=732&title=Barber+Half+Dollar

It lists a 1893 Barber Half in EF40 for $220 and a MS60 for $515

What I do (because I am too cheap to pay for the PCGS guide with all the prices)
is put my grade into the set of numbers (although this is not always a good idea)
and use a linear fit (price grade jumps are actually rarely linear, but it's a good rough estimate for my purposes)

The wacky way I would calculate this is a coin graded 55 is 3/4 of the way between a 40 and a 60;
so my estimated price of a 55 would be 3/4 of the way between the price of the 40 and the 60

(Note this is actually not how most coins are graded, so use this "cheap man's" equation at your own risk)

This risk is lower on cheaper coins (say below $600) ... but I would not recommending doing this on
coins over $600 as you could end up grossly overpaying

So my estimated price of a 55 would be 220 + 0.75 x (515-220) = $441.25

So if I REALLY WANTED the coin ... i would probably actually bid about 5% (sometimes a little more)
over my calcualted priice ... so I would bid around $460.00
and hope that i ended up getting the coin for less.

To me even if I overpay by $40 or $60, it's not a big deal on a $500 coin that I love.
Others might not agree with this technique or philosophy for sure!

So in this case since the high winning bid was $432 ... I would have won the coin for $442 (with my $460 bid)
(assuming bidding was in $10 jumps and assuming the guy bidding $432 didnt have a higher max price
in the system)

And remember .. only do this on a few one-of-a kind coins you covet that are under $600 or so ...
this reduces your price risk to probably less than $100 a coin (which to me is no big deal)

And do not do this on common coins that you will have the opportunity to buy tomorrow for less

Anyway just thought I would share this (somewhat crazy) way I would bid on a one-of-a kind
coin I absolutely covet

One last note, If a coin says "No Returns" ... ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS pass ...
as I end up returning over 50% of the coins I buy on ebay because the photo
didnt look like the coin in hand ... there are plenty of ways to enhance photos

So in any case try not to get too carried away ... and if you miss on a coin ... don't fret ... just keep looking ...
there will always be another coin you like offered for sale in the future ... and maybe
you'll be able to get it for less

By the way, I think nice looking Barber Halfs in very high grades that are under $500 are hard to find.
I have no idea why. It's easier to find a nice looking Capped Bust Half for some reason.

Good Hunting!

 

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thank you for the wonderful information you have provided me....
I guess I didn't bid enough....but there are more items to bid on...
btw that is some very handy calculations you have provided, I might
use that on my future purchases/coins i like/not over $600.

and you are right about the capped bust ration vs barber half ratio
there's just not alot of high graded barbers out there that's why
I barely pay more than $50 for them...usually around the range of
$40-$55 and that's the end of my price limit...but as far as barbers go...
I would easily pay over premium....but I guess I lost since I had the case
of bidding cockiness...so to speak....but again thanks for looking for me=)
really truly appreciate it....

-acsf89